As we reported, Katie Couric has been not-so-secretly packing up her Lands End cotton cardigans in preparation to leave CBS.
Couric confirmed the rumored departure to People with a well crafted statement that reads more like a valedictorian speech…
“I have decided to step down from the CBS Evening News. I’m really proud of the talented team on the CBS Evening News and the award-winning work we’ve been able to do in the past five years in addition to the reporting I’ve done for 60 Minutes and CBS Sunday Morning. In making the decision to move on, I know the Evening News will be in great hands, but I am excited about the future.”
She also added that her plans are to look for a “format that will allow me to engage in more multi-dimensional storytelling.” (I too immediately thought about John Hurt as “The Storyteller” sitting by a fire with a puppet dog. It was awesome back in 1988-1991.) Basically, Katie is taking her divorced mother of the groom swerve to her own show. All the details are still being ironed out, but the most consistent guess is that she will end up on ABC. She has been offered a CBS talk show and a position on “60 Minutes,” but ABC is offering a better package with a promise for 2012 election coverage as their lure.
TV Guide also mentions that NBC was interested, but has backed out after ABC made her an offer she can’t refuse. My guess is that Oprah’s former network will eventually score Katie. After they killed off their soaps (click HERE for more on that…) and Opie is waving goodbye to the network in favor of her own kingdom, they need her.
